Shaping our Future with Conscious Parenting
By Dr. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D.
All biological organisms, from bacteria to humans, share one biological behavior: the will to survive. This fundamental drive for survival, referred to as a "biological imperative," is built into every organism.
The repertoire of diverse behaviors an organism employs to "survive"
may be conveniently subdivided into two functional categories:
behaviors that support growth and behaviors that provide protection.
Growth-related behaviors include activities associated with seeking
nutrients and supportive environments for personal survival and
the seeking of mates for species survival. Protection behaviors
are those activities employed by organisms to avoid harm.
The selection of growth and protection behaviors is a dynamic
process that is influenced by an organism's perception of its
environment. Organisms, from single cells to humans, gravitate
toward positive, "life-supporting" stimuli and in the
process, engage in growth behaviors. In contrast, organisms are
repelled by negative, "life-compromising" stimuli which
provoke the selection of protection behaviors. The more relevant
a stimulus is to the organism's survival, the more polarized (either
positive or negative) the resulting response. In humans, the extremes
of the two polarities might appropriately be described as love
(positive) and fear (negative).
All activities are empowered using precious metabolic energy.
Each organism is endowed with an energy "budget" to
power its biological needs. It is important to note that energy
spent (deducted from the budget) in support of protection is therefore
not available for growth. In fact, the metabolic investment required
to support protection responses comes at the cost of compromising
growth. There is a point where organisms that live in too much
fear die because they have no energy reserves available for growth.
In human development, the factor that determines the selection
of either growth or protection programs by the fetus is based
upon its perception of its environment. The environment perceived
by the fetus is the maternal blood from which it receives nourishment
and "information." Nourishment is derived from the metabolites
transported in the mother's blood. "Information" is
provided by signal molecules (such as: hormones, neuropeptides
and cytokines and other immune-related "hormones") which
also circulate within the maternal blood. This molecular information
controls the mother's physiologic and behavioral responses to
her perception of the environment. Since the father (typically)
is so intimately entwined with the mother's world, her physiology
actually represents the convergence of both her and her significant
other's perception of life. While our emphasis is on the role
of the maternal influence, the fetus is actually shaped by both
parents.
The environmental "information" observed by the fetus
was not primarily intended for the fetus. The maternal nervous
system releases blood-borne information signals in response to
her perception of the environment. The primary role of these signals
is to regulate the selection of growth and protection behaviors
in maternal organs, tissues and cells. If the mother's nervous
system perceives an environment that is threatening to either
her or her fetus' survival, it will release informational molecules
that will engage a protective response and prepare her for flight
or fight. When the body's valuable energy resources are directed
toward promoting protection behaviors, growth behaviors must necessarily
be shunted.
These maternal information signals cross the placenta and profoundly
impact the genetics and behavior of the developing fetus. Initially,
one might think that free passage of maternal signals through
the placenta would represent a "defect" in Nature's
mechanism. Far from being a design flaw, the transfer of these
signals to the fetal system is Nature's way of providing the baby
with an advantage in dealing with the world it will soon enter.
Thus, through the relaying of information to the developing offspring,
the mother's perceptions directly impact the selection of gene
programs that may enhance the survival of her offspring, and ultimately
that of the species. Since the offspring will spend their lives
in the same or essentially the same environment in which they
were born, developmental "programming" of the neonate
by the mother is of adaptive value in species survival. This is
Nature's equivalent to a "head start" program. The old
axiom, being forewarned is being forearmed, is appropriate to
apply to this situation.
A fetus developing in a happy, harmonious, supportive environment
will primarily engage growth programs and will be healthier and
stronger for it. However, a pregnant woman in an abusive environment
will continuously relay adrenal distress signals, which shunt
resources from growth-related behaviors in both herself and in
her fetus. The mother's investment in protection causes the fetus
to divert its growth and engage in a "fight or flight"
metabolism. The down side of the story is that even through a
"misperception" of her environment, a mother can negatively
impact the survival of her child. That is, if she "perceives"
a hostile environment, even though in reality it is supportive,
the fetus' growth will be compromised as well!
It has recently been shown that maternal influences may impact
more than just the subsequent generation. An observation referred
to as the "grandmother effect" reveals Dutch women who
were on starvation diets during the famine of World War II, produced
smaller than normal babies. Interestingly, this pattern of stunted
growth continued into the next generation. There are now many
examples of how maternal observations of environmental influences
profoundly alter the growth, phenotype (physiological expression),
sex ratios and even the sexual maturation period of their offspring,
all in an effort to ensure the survival of their species.
Current research indicates that fetal brain development can be
shunted by a mother's chronic protection posture. High stress
in the maternal system leads to elevated adrenal hormones which
depress the activity of the "executive" reasoning centers
of both hers and her fetus' brain. It is now recognized that up
to 52% of a child's IQ is apparently determined by environmental
influences, especially during the critical prenatal period. Similarly,
as the stress experienced by a nation increases, the intelligence
of its offspring will inevitably decrease.
This new perspective on the role of nurture over nature, is of
vital importance for it underscores the need for Conscious Parenting.
Conscious Parenting emphasizes the fact that, from before conception,
the environment and specifically, the parent's perception of the
environment, profoundly influences the development, health and
intelligence of the child and the life of the next generation.
An important contribution to this new vision will be the turning
away from the old Darwinian notion of the "survival of the
fittest" and the adoption of a new credo, the "survival
of the most loving!"